About the Center

We enter the world with a complement of genes that strongly influence future health and disease risks. From that moment forward, every aspect of our lives affects our health. There is unequivocal evidence that social, environmental, and behavioral influences accruing over the life-course are by far and away the strongest predictors of health and disease. Health care contributes, too, both in ways we understand well and many we do not yet fully grasp. Utilizing a team science approach, the Center for Population Health Sciences (PHS) is focused on advancing our understanding of these complicated intersections in order to transform the health of individuals and communities. 

Founded in 2015, the Center’s mission is to improve individual and population health by bringing together diverse disciplines and data to understand and address social, environmental, behavioral, and biological factors on both a domestic and global scale.

To help advance our understanding of population health and spur innovative, transdisciplinary research, PHS is excited to provide reasearch resources such as:

• Access to Unique Datasets 
• Funding and Research Opportunities 
• Support for Community-Based Research
• Mentoring and Training for Young Scholars (PhD students, post-docs, junior faculty) 
• Networking Events and Meetings

PHS at a Glance

• 750+ members, representing all 7 schools and 27 departments
• 239 research trainees (PhD students, post-docs, junior faculty)
• 42 community partners
• 41 diverse datasets (global, domestic, biologic, behavioral, survey, administrative), including 12 marquee datasets distributed on PHS servers
•  28 research projects and initiatives across 24 countries
• 14 transdisciplinary research working groups (e.g., health disparities, adolescent health)
• 15m in research funds secured in 2016 (including National Institutes of Health, Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, and Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation)